Half Way
by purplebaer
Summary: During a mission, Team Kakashi was forced to split into two. Yamato and Sai continued to Konoha to complete their mission, while Naruto and Sakura stayed behind to fight off the enemies. After retreating, the two were on their way home. However in the process of that, they met Sasuke and the three was put in a situation where they have to work together. Can they bring Sasu home?
1. Chapter 1

**Half Way**

By: purplebaer

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction. I do own the plot though. But don't go suing me for that either, because this is a non-profit thing. Leave me alone. I just want to fantasize. QQ

* * *

On a mission, Team Kakashi was dispatched to retrieve important information after safely escorting a feudal lord. After completing the mission, the team were on their way home, but an ambush divided them into pairs. Yamato and Sai went ahead to report to the hokage, but in order to do so; they had to leave Naruto and Sakura behind. The pair believed they were able to defeat the ambushers, but the enemy had others reserved for back up. In a matter of time, the two friends had to retreat.

"Shit," cursed the jinchūriki.

"I didn't expect them to have back up teams. They're so persistent." The pinkette muttered, "Let's find a hideout, I doubt we can last any longer."

Without another word, the two leapt into a nearby cave, hidden by large rocks and bushes. They sat in silence, concealing their chakra until they absolutely knew that they were safe.

When the area was free from any chakra signatures, Sakura sighed in relief and let go of Naruto's mouth.

"Geez Sakura!" Naruto gasped, "You didn't have to do that! I can stay perfectly silent on my own!"

She gave him a cold sneer, causing him to get shivers down his back.

"Oh? Can you?" she asked coldly, causing Naruto began to panic.

"N-now, now S-s-sakura-chan." Naruto stuttered, assuming his teammate's rising arm was related to his physical pain.

Before Naruto could scream, Sakura slapped her hand over Naruto's mouth once again. "SHH! Someone's nearby." She hissed into his ear.

With that the blond stopped struggling and fell into silence. He put his focus to that small chakra presence, hoping it will find nothing here, and leave.

Knowing that was too much to ask for, the presence got closer and closer. The two konoha-nins gradually got into ready position to attack and escape from their hideout. However, just before the presence could get any closer to the waterfall, it paused and left the scene.

Naruto and Sakura shared another moment of relief, but they also agreed that they couldn't stay in this small cave forever. They have to keep moving to get back to their village safely.

They ran towards home, trying to go unnoticed by citizens and other ninjas. They were exhausted, but continued to push themselves, until they collapsed under a large tree.

"Let's rest for now." Sakura said, breathless. "When we catch our breaths, I'll check your wounds."

Naruto sat against the giant tree root, giving her a sign that he agreed.

Sakura sat next to him, gathering her chakra to give aid to their wounds. Like always, Naruto was healing quickly, and didn't need much help. She healed and bandaged his minor wounds and did the same for herself. _I'm so thankful that we managed to escape from that ambush with only minor injuries._

"I wonder if Yamato-taichou and Sai made it home safely.."

"I'm sure they did. They're strong." Naruto said, grinning. "Now we just gotta get home and things will go back to normal."

Sakura smiled, and put her head onto Naruto's shoulder. "Yeah.. back to normal."

No matter how comforting that sounded, they both knew that was a lie. Things won't go back to normal, not until they bring their lost friend home.

"I'll bring him back for sure." Naruto whispered. "I promise."

Sakura looked at Naruto and gave him a firm look. "No."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and confusion; if anything, he looked as if Sakura betrayed him as well.

She looked up at his confused face and smiled. "**We'll** bring him back **together**," she emphasized. "Stop trying to do things all on your own. I'm Sasuke's friend too. Don't you dare forget that."

He chuckled at his stupidity, and at her stubbornness, "Of course Sakura-chan.. This time, we'll do it together."

With that, the two friends fell asleep with their burdens weighing a bit less.

* * *

AN: Hello! Welcome to my second fanfic~ This time, it's about Team 7, and I already have the whole thing written. It's a multi-chapter~ Hopefully this will be liked as much as my one shot.. ^^; Please R&R, I would love to hear some constructive criticism; I would like to improve as a writer. Thanks so much to my awesome reviewers for Bittersweet Blossoms, and to those who just read this one. I hope you enjoyed it! :D

-purplebaer


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

At the crack of dawn, Sakura was wide awake. She went out into the forest to find some breakfast. Not wanting to start a fire, as it will reveal their location to any possible enemies, the medic nin search high and low for edible fruits. There wasn't a large selection of fruits, and many weren't ripe yet, but they would have to do. By the time Sakura returned to camp, Naruto was still fast asleep. He was sleeping so soundly, it irritated the pinkette; Sakura kicked him out of spite.

The blond cried in pain, causing him to be aware of Sakura's angry voice.

"Get up Naruto! I got us breakfast but we need to hurry; we need to head back to Konoha as quickly as possible."

As she said, they quickly finished off their rather sour breakfast, and went on their way.

But because going home safely and quietly was too much to ask for, another presence appeared before them. However, this time it was very familiar. Wide eyed, they two immediately knew who it was, and sprinted towards its direction.

Once out of the trees, Naruto and Sakura was finally standing face to face with their long lost friend.

"Sasuke.." Sakura exhaled. They were just talking about him a few hours ago, it felt so surreal. _"This is it,"_ she thought. "_Our chance to bring him home, together."_

Sasuke wasn't very surprised to see them. He stood there with his usual blank face. "Sakura. Naruto."

Naruto growled, and began yelling about bringing him home. "If you won't come with us on your own, then we'll beat you up and drag you home!"

Sasuke expected the same determined look from Naruto but it was unexpected coming from Sakura.

"Yes," she said under her breath, "You'll be coming home with us, Sasuke."

But just before the three could move, they were surrounded by ninjas. The largest of the group smirked, amused at the situation. "Oh lookie here, we got quite the catch."

Naruto growled, "Get lost! We don't have time for you!"

Sakura scanned her surroundings. _Damn it, we're surrounded by the same ninjas as before, and it looks like we won't be getting out of here easily._

The large ninja spoke again, ignoring the blond. "We have the jinchūriki in front of us as well as the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan. We can't pass this chance up, boys." From the looks of it, he seems like the leader of the group of ambushers. He has a large body, and was covered in bandages and in strange equipment with orbs. He also wore a helmet, assuming it's to differentiate himself from the others. The other ninja were fashioned the same, without the helmet, less orbs, and smaller body types.

"What about that pinky over there, boss?"

The leader gave a sneer, "No one important, she's irrelevant. You can do whatever with her. Just keep the other two alive."

The group chuckled, and a few gave out whistles. Sakura's anger began to build from the cat calls, but what pissed her off the most was being labelled as someone "unimportant". Letting her anger control her for a minute she let out a menacing growl. "Who the hell are you calling 'irrelevent'?!"

Panicking, Naruto tried to calm her down, but that only gave him a punch in the face. He crashed into a tree and cursed. Knowing what was going to happen next, he leapt out of range. Sasuke, not wanting to get involved, leapt off on top a far off tree and watched from there.

Assuming the boys were escaping, the leader ordered his minions to chase after them, but before they could even move, Sakura was in front of them. "Try getting past me first, _boys_."

With her chakra enhanced fists, Sakura threw several punches and uppercuts, knocking several minions unconscious. She continued to do so, gathering the enemies to one spot, and before they knew it, Sakura was in the air, preparing to give them one of her most damaging moves. She punched the ground was able to knock out at least half of their troops. The leader stood in shock, unable to comprehend how such a small girl can contain that much power.

"Do not underestimate the hokage's apprentice." She growled, landing on top of the pile of unconscious ninjas. "Who's unimportant now?"

From the distance, Naruto was cheering. "OH HELL YEAH, YOU DON'T MESS WITH SAKURA."

"YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG GIRL!"

"GO GO SAKURA!"

Sasuke had to leap from tree to tree, to prevent falling with the trees that were affected by Sakura's move. Although his face remained passive, he was quite surprised about her new power. He never had the chance to see what she was capable of at their encounters because Sakura would always hesitate when it came to attacking him. Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Naruto shouting.

"Sakura! Sakura! Behind you!"

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura. Naruto won't make it in time, and Sakura's reacting too slowly. Without thinking Sasuke went in and with a swing of his sword, he protected Sakura.

Both Naruto and Sakura were shocked by his actions, but Naruto was filling with pride and Sakura was more confused than ever. "Thank you, Sasuke.."

"Hn."

"But why did you do it?"

As usual, Sasuke stayed silent. Sakura didn't take it too personal; he was always like that and besides, they have to focus on the enemies before them. Naruto too, realized this as he came up behind his friends. They will have to deal with Sasuke later.

The leader of the rogue ninjas let out a maniacal laugh, catching everyone's attention. "This is getting interesting. "Half my troops got done in, do you think we'll let you get away with that?!"

The three stood their ground, preparing for the worst. Thus, with the sound of the leader's warcry, the battle begun. As they fought, Sakura realized that she just knocked out the weaker section of the group, and left the stronger ones to fight back. She cursed, wondering how long she and Naruto would last at their current state. They haven't fully recovered from the last time. Even with Sasuke's help, this may be too much to handle. It's three against approximately forty ninjas. Why they brought this many people for one mission, was something to wonder about.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto had summoned ten shadow clones to help, and used his rasengan to blast most of enemies away. Sasuke did the same with his sword and chidori. Sakura tried her best to keep up, but it's getting difficult for her to smash the ground any further. She resulted to using genjutsu and simple taijutsu. They continued to fight, and after what seemed like hours, they reduced the group down to four.

_Shit, I don't know if I can last any longer. I'm really low on chakra._ Sakura peered over her shoulder to check up on her allies. Naruto was beginning to tire as well, but with the nine tails, he'll last. Sasuke on the other hand, was in better shape. He was breathless, but he can go on for a lot longer than the other two.

Naruto and Sasuke went straight back into battle. Sasuke, taking down to stronger ninjas, while Naruto charged right for the leader. _I can't let them show me up. What the hell was all that training for? Let's do this!_

"SHANNARO!"

One down, three to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Sasuke wiped the blood and sweat off his face, panting as he stared at his opponents. _These guys are strong, especially the girl. I need to find their weaknesses._

"Getting tired?" the girl mocked.

Her partner laughed, eyeing the sharingan wielder before them. "Maybe he's not up to par with his clan."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, angered by his words.

He saw Sasuke's reaction and decided to continue, sneering at him. "Is the last of his kind, that weak?"

With that, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and his level two curse seal. "Don't fuck with me."

Naruto shuddered against the burst of dark chakra, and looked behind him. "Shit, Sasuke."

The leader took this chance to punch Naruto several times. "Don't get distracted now, or you'll end up getting hurt."

He watched as Naruto break through tress, smirking as his work, until he heard a sweet voice by his ear. "I could say the same to you."

"Wha-"

Before he could even turn around, Sakura took his head and smashed it down against the ground, breaking his helmet. He cursed at the pain, disoriented. Sakura leapt back, as Naruto took charge, punching the larger man like a punching bag.

With a meaningless shout, the leader attacked, catching Naruto off guard, and stabbed him in the abdomen. Naruto winced in pain.

"Naruto!"

"Stay out of this Sakura, I got this. Go help Sasuke." He urged, "Just go!"

Sakura looked at him, hesitant, but there's no time for disagreement, Sakura went to Sasuke.

Landing a few feet away, behind some trees, she saw how dark and gruesome her first love looked. He was grey and with strange wings and other features. He was dark, and she was afraid for him, especially now since it reminded her of the chuunin exam. _He's not Sasuke right now, he's clouded with rage. What the hell happened here?_

She watched from the distance, as Sasuke exchanged blows with his opponents. Metal clashing with metal. Limb with limb. He was able to hit some of the fatal points of the female rogue when she got carelessly overconfident, but the male got off only with a few deep cuts. Despite this, Sasuke was still struggling.

"Hehe," they giggled. "You're pretty good. Not much of a failure then."

He kicked the female rogue several feet away, before charging for the male's throat. When he pinned him against the tree, he raised his weapon to his neck. "Shut up." He growled.

Instead of cowering under Sasuke's cursed form and sharingan, he smiled and giggled. He was quite the strange one. "Did I hit a sore spot?"

With all of Sasuke's attention on the man before him, he didn't notice the rogue's partner sneaking up behind him. He kept scowling and pushing Kusanagi against the creepy man's throat. It was strange enough that Sasuke didn't immediately slaughtered him, but instead let the man suffer under his Tsukuyomi.

* * *

Naruto's leader was strong; Naruto had to resort to using the nine tail's chakra, and at times entered sage mode.

"Why are you after me?" Naruto demanded.

The leader simply laughed and told him it was none of his business. Despite his answer, Naruto would continue to hit him with his shadow clones. The leader would continue counter attack and destroy his clones, and enough was enough, Naruto was getting fed up.

"Goddammit! I don't have time for this!" he shouted with irritation. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

"This again?" the leader responded, bored. "Don't know how to do anything else?"

Without saying anything, Naruto got his clones to attack the boss, trying to create an opening. The leader didn't expect him to suddenly become so fast and nimble. He couldn't land a single punch, nor could he block any of Naruto's. When he finally stumbled against a tree, the real Naruto appeared.

"Eat this!" he yelled, as his wind rasengan pierced through his enemy.

Now with his enemy defeated, Naruto was free to check on his teammates. Sakura wasn't in his sight, and wondered where she was. She was supposed to check on Sasuke. He frowned at his best friend's appearance, but it washed away as he noticed the female rogue. "Shit." He cursed, calling out. "Sasuke! Behind you!"

Sasuke heard Naruto's warning, but he was too late, the girl was coming for him. He sliced the male's neck, as he changed position to stab the girl with his blade.

Blood trickled down from his sword to his hand. Countless rogue bodies lay around them, and Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes were wide in shock.

At the end of Kusanagi, was not one girl, but two.

* * *

AN: Yayyy Chapter Three! Let me know what you guys think~ :D (I don't mind if it's harsh, in fact you get brownie points for giving your honest opinions.) The next chapter will be released after a few reviews. Just so I can make any adjustments to the story before it ends in the next 5-6 chapters. I hope this is not too bad, and that you enjoyed reading it~ Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Sakura was watching the battle, unsure when to step in. It looked like Sasuke had it all under control. Somewhat. She didn't know if she could even be of help, so she decided to stay back until she's needed.

She winced as she watched Sasuke kick the girl and roughly pinned the other against the tree. It was then, when she realized their fight dragged on for so long, they gradually moved to another location. She bit her lip, worried about their previous mission and their current situation. _We need to get this done and over with, fast. But this time Sasuke's coming with us._

Staring at the battlefield, she noticed the female rogue that Sasuke kicked off from before, sneaking up behind Sasuke. Sakura's eyes widened as she noticed the rogue was holding a blunt sword. _Crap_.

She ran towards the group as fast as she could, focusing her chakra to form chakra scalpels, preparing to kill. When she was close enough, she ran between the two, quickly raising one hand to stop the sword, and the other to cut off the girl's nervous system with her scalpels.

In the middle to protecting Sasuke, she felt a familiar cold sensation in her abdomen. After making sure the girl in front of her can move no longer, she looked down. Eyes widen, Sakura realized she was stabbed. Sasuke stabbed Sakura.

* * *

AN: This chapter is short only for the layout of the story. Don't worry, I'll be uploading the next chapter soon. (Why am I talking as if someone's actually reading this..) OTL


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"SAKURA!" Naruto cried. He stood up to go to them, but the battle with the boss drained his physical strength. He didn't have the energy to even crawl over to his friends. He cursed, as he collapsed onto the dirt path.

Sasuke continued to stare, unsure what to do. There were moments when he attacked Sakura in the past, but he never truly intended to go through with it. He knew deep down that someone would be able to stop him in time. However, this time, no one was there to stop him in time.

She winced at the pain when she moved slightly. Sakura looked from the corner of her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped out of his shocked state at the sound of Sakura's weak voice.

"Sasuke?"

He flinched and quickly regretted it when Sakura gasped.

"Try not to do that again, okay?" Sakura hissed, wincing. She tried to sound amused, but she failed horribly. "I'm going to try to heal the wound as I pull out the sword, but since I was stabbed from the behind, I need you to pull out the sword, alright?"

Sasuke nodded, but he realized she couldn't see him. "Ah."

"Before we start let's get that girl out of the way first." Sakura took the sword out the girl's hand, and let her arms fall to her side. Sakura gripped the metal of Sasuke's sword that was between the two. With all her strength, she pushed the limp girl off the end of the weapon.

"Alright, let's start." Sakura's hands began to glow a dim green as it was placed on her abdomen. "Start pulling, Sasuke."

At her command, Sasuke slowly began to pull Kusanagi out of his ex-teammates body. Sakura bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. Her sight was being to blur, but she continued to push herself. _Just a bit more_. When the operation was done, Sakura staggered. The battle and healing herself took everything out of her. She was exhausted and couldn't bear to stay conscious any longer.

She began to fall backwards, but before she fell unconscious, she felt strong arms catching her. She smiled, knowing she'd be safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Last Chapter**

* * *

Sasuke looked at the smiling girl in his arms. He frowned, '_Why is she smiling?_ _She almost died. Shit, where's Naruto?'_

He scanned his surroundings, hoping to find his blond rival. He spotted him several feet away, lying on the ground. He picked up the pinkette carefully, trying not to reopen her injuries. Carefully, he made his way to Naruto and placed her down next to him.

"Sakura? Teme, is she okay? Is she alive?"

Sasuke ignored him and continued to stare at her face. Panic swam in the jinchūriki's blue eyes as he scrambled over on all fours to check her for her pulse and breath. He let out a sigh of relief, when he realized she's alive.

With irritation, he turned to face his friend. "Teme! You could've at least said something! I thought I was going to have a panic attack! I don't want to even want think about losing Sakura.. Another friend." He looked down, unable to keep his emotions under control. He wasn't crying but with the clear pain in his eyes, he might as well be.

Sasuke stared at the blond in front of him. He was confused to why, even after all these years of him betraying Naruto, Sakura and the others countless of times, they still consider him as a friend, or at times, family. He looked down, back to Sakura. He thought about the times that they spent together; he enjoyed being at their side, but that would mean he wouldn't have gained the powers he had now. He needed it to seek revenge against Itachi, but that wasn't fulfilling. He thought about what that masked man revealed to him. He still held a grudge against Konoha, but what good will come out of it? Probably just self-satisfaction. His eyebrows furrowed as his struggled internally about going home and continuing his journey as an A-class criminal.

The boys stayed in silence, not knowing what else to do, or to say. Sasuke could've left whenever, but he decided to stay. Naruto didn't want to point that out; afraid it might actually cause him to leave.

His feelings continued to clash until it frustrated him. He growled and punched the tree next to him. _Goddammit._ He ran his fingers through his hair, before sitting down against the tree, next to Sakura. He looked down at her, checking her condition. He stared; Sakura was paler than usual and was breaking into a cold sweat. Not good.

"Naruto. Something's wrong with Sakura. Can you make it to Konoha with her?"

That snapped Naruto out of trance. "What?" He tried to stand up, but only to fall again. "Shit, I can't even stand up." Frustrated, after so many attempts, Naruto slammed the ground with his fists. "Dammit!" He couldn't even enter sage mode because of his chaotic state of mind. He needed to be calm to meditate.

Sasuke looked back between Naruto and Sakura. Once again, he's having an internal battle with himself. The one that won was that small voice in his head. _There's not much time, Sakura needs help now._ It was never his duty, but he always had that feeling that he had to protect her. He cursed, upset that he wasn't able to cut off his ties completely. Carefully placing Sakura on his shoulder, and picking up Naruto by the shirt, Sasuke carried them both to the village of the leaf.

"Hey, teme! Teme! What the hell are you doing?!" exclaimed a surprised Naruto.

"Just shut up, dead last."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING DEAD LAS—"

"I said shut up, we're going home."

With that, Naruto stopped struggling, and gaped at the man carrying him by his shirt. "What..?"

"Are you deaf?"

"Screw you. I heard you." Naruto huffed. "I just wanted to hear it again."

* * *

After a few hours of labour and low tolerance for Naruto's nonsense, they arrived at the leaf village.

Despite Naruto's warnings, Sasuke ignored him and went straight the hokage's building. Trying to be inconspicuous, Sasuke flash stepped the whole way there, surprising the half-drunk woman and her aid.

Tsunade stood up immediately, knocking down her sake with wide eyes. "U-uchiha!"

"Oh heyyy grandma!"

"NARUTO?" she gasped, looking at Sasuke's side. "What the hell is going on here? Someone explain right this instant!"

Naruto laughed nervously, not knowing where to start. "Uh, haha, well you see—" But before he could say anything else, there was a quick tap at the base of his neck, causing him to faint.

Now, angry and suspicious, Tsunade gripped the edges of the table, causing them to crack. "What are you here for? Tell me before I have to resort to violence."

If it were to be anyone else, they would be cowering under the demonic presence of the fifth hokage, but not Sasuke. The missing-nin stared right into Tsunade's eyes, but she was unclear of what they were telling her. He slowly reached up to take Sakura off his shoulder, and placed her gently on a nearby seat.

"I'm only here to return Naruto and Sakura. They need medical attention." He stared at the two unconscious figures, somewhat melancholic about his final decision. He lied to them. He truly did have a moment where he wanted to return to the home he grew up in, but still cannot forgive the village's actions in the past. He furrowed his brows, and muttered "However, I do not plan to stay here."

"I'm afraid I cannot let you leave, now that you're here." Tsunade warned, cautious and confused.

But before she could do anything, Sasuke was already gone.

"Shit." Tsunade cursed. "SHIZUNE! Go dispatch two teams of ANBU. Get them to find and retrieve Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Yes! R-right on it Tsunade-sama!"

As Shizune scampered out the door, Tsunade slammed her fists on her desk before running over to aid her treasured ninjas.

* * *

Hidden in the distance, Sasuke watched as his ex-teammates were carried to the hospital, while trying to avoid being caught. When he knew they were in safe hands, Sasuke made his way past the gates, and out of Konoha. As he continued to escape from the anbu on his tail, he tried not to think about what had happened in the last few hours.

While his mind was distracted, his body automatically defended him from the pursuing anbu. He needed to leave quickly without using too much chakra.

Twisting his body, he formed a large great fireball, to cover him as he made his escape. Using his wings, the last survivor was soon out of the leaf's sight.

_Until next time… Naruto, Sakura._

And without another trail left behind, Sasuke was gone.

* * *

AN: Hello! Welcome to the last chapter of Half Way~ For this fic, I just wanted to write out the process of getting Sasuke home. I knew that it wouldn't be easy, so I wrote one where Naruto and Sakura ALMOST brought him home. There's a lot of fanfiction about Sasuke coming home, but sometimes it makes me cringe when I read that their emotions and fighting was enough to bring him back. Don't get me wrong, most of them are good, but considering what Sasuke went through in the manga, I don't think he'd like going back very much. I think he'd like to be with his friends/team/family, but in order to do so, he has to be in Konoha; the place that caused the whole massacre of his family, and the burden Itachi had to carry to death. But who knows, this is just my opinion. Hopefully, Kishimoto will do something about it soon. ): I can't bear to have my bbys to suffer any longer. Especially Kakashi. Oh god. /3 Ahem, anyways, thanks so much for reading this. I do hope you enjoyed reading this! Again, I apologize if any of your eyes bled because of my horrible grammar and overall writing.. OTL


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